Mammals

Apodemus sylvaticus.These mice live all over the grassland at Cowbar. They burrow tunnels through the grass mat and the entrances to their burrow can be spotted all over the cliff top.

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus - once Lepus capensis) Cowbar grassland and its neighbouring fields provide shelter for brown hares (also known as European hares). If you are lucky, you are most likely to see them at dawn and dusk. Our trail-cams have picked up images of hares in the night on the Cleveland Way.

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus). Hedgehogs have been spotted occasionally on Cowbar by residents, often in the darkening evenings. This summer, 2022, the tracking boxes showed several individuals and families are living here.

Shrew (Sorex araneus). There are plenty of shrews living on Cowbar in the grassland and the banks along the Cleveland Way. If you do spot a tiny scuttling mouse-like creature, around 5 – 8cm long with a 2-4 cm tail, tiny eyes and a long, pointed nose, it is probably a shrew.

Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus). Voles live all over the grassland on Cowbar and in the banks alongside the Cleveland Way. The field vole (Microtus agrestis), sometimes known as the ‘short tailed vole’, has a population of 75 million in the UK (bank voles approx. 23 million) so it’s likely we have both species living on Cowbar.

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). Several residents have seen foxes on Cowbar over the years – usually at dusk or very early in the morning.